Layered crises Climate change, water insecurity and irrigation in the Sahel

Climate change-induced water insecurity impacts are unevenly distributed across the world, with Africa expected to bear the highest burden of water scarcity globally. In this chapter, we examine how climate change acts as a compounding factor that exacerbates the existing vulnerabilities in the Sahel region and creates new challenges for water security and irrigation management. With populations in the Sahel highly dependent on agriculture and pastoralism for their livelihoods, addressing water insecurity through effective and climate-smart pathways becomes crucial to ensure sustainable production, safeguard livelihoods and promote people's resilience. Irrigation remains a promising climate change-adaptation strategy in the Sahel due to its potential to shield agricultural yields from the adverse impacts of water scarcity since it enables off-season production and effectively mitigates climate impacts on farmers' livelihoods. We argue that financial and decision-making support for locally based adaptation strategies, partly grounded on Indigenous knowledge, could be crucial to heighten local populations' adaptive capacity in the water sector through different techniques, ranging from behaviour-based (e.g., water-saving) to technical solutions (e.g., drip irrigation). Supporting these strategies will contribute to implementing adaptation strategies that reflect local populations' everyday realities, aligned with their needs.